


What's Important - An IW BuckyNat Reveal Across Three Acts

by blessedharlot



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Trailer, F/M, Friendship, Guns, Reveal, Snark, We Just Love Each Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-07 03:36:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14072046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blessedharlot/pseuds/blessedharlot
Summary: “I owe you a gun,” he said.Nat opened the case, and found three of her favorite handguns with matching holsters and what she would only guess were the enhanced Wakandan bullets Bucky was using.She raised an eyebrow at him.“You want back those bullets you gave me?” she asked with a smirk.-=-=-=-=-With an eye toward what we know so far, this is a glimpse of a possible, subtle BUT NOT TOO SUBTLE BuckyNat IW reveal.





	What's Important - An IW BuckyNat Reveal Across Three Acts

**Author's Note:**

> We're running low on pre-Infinity War time, and I didn't want to belabor this, so it's just a quick riff on today's idea. Please excuse incomplete proofreading. Enjoy!

**ACT ONE: Gathering some friends and heading to Wakanda**

 

Steve re-entered Avengers compound to find Nat standing quietly in the weapons storage room, by herself, casually looking around.

The look in her eye made him wonder if he was interrupting a quiet moment of reflection.

"The others are ready. I think everything's set to go for Wakanda," he said.

"Sounds exciting," Natasha said, with a genuine but tired smile.

"Nat, I just..."

Steve'd had so much confidence in how to say this... but he got her name out, and faltered. Her friendship meant so much, he couldn’t bear to lose it. Not after everything else. 

Natasha stood still, arms gently folded, and looked expectantly at him.

"I want you to know," Steve tried again. "... that I trust you. And that's important to me. And if there’s anything I can do to... to help you..."

He shifted uncomfortably. This would be a lot easier if it were only about protecting her feelings, not exposing his.

"I mean... Bucky’s awake now." Steve came close to meeting her eye, but didn’t quite make it. "We'll be working with him. And uh..." He took a quick breath, and his quiet volume picked up to an attempt at casual gregariousness. "Well, he and Sam found a sustainable level of hostility in their working relationship before. Im hoping they can find that again. And um... I'm just..."

He met her eye. She looked guarded.

He continued, desperate to make a point. "I'm well aware of...."

"Steve," Nat said kindly.

Her face was soft as she took him in. And then her lips pursed together as she came close, then walked just past him.

She pulled the door to the weapons storage closed, and leaned on it as she spoke quietly.

"Ever since the airport incident, I've been thinking a lot about..."

Her eye contact with him fluttered.

"Well," she said, "actually, the first man I ever loved." She quirked her head at her own sudden swerve in conversation.

"He was my last trainer, so we had a lot of eyes on us." She nodded at Steve, then spoke conspiratorially for a moment. "And we weren't supposed to be doing what we were doing. And... it was taken from us."

Her gaze wandered away. And after so many years of working with her and getting to know her, Steve thought he saw a decision flicker across her eyes just then.

"Losing that relationship shaped... a lot of things," she mused. Then she gave her head a small shake.

"My point is... I’ve had too many important things stolen from me." She met his gaze solidly. "I’m not gonna hand one back, over a few measly gunshot wounds. Okay?"

Steve willed some tears back, and hugged her.

“Thank you,” he said.

“You’re welcome. Now stop slowing us all down, old man.”  
  
  


**ACT TWO: Old friends in Wakanda**

 

Steve and Nat stood waiting in the conference room that T’Challa’s lieutenants and advisors had just vacated. They had a plan of action, and Sam had gone with Shuri to receive a few quick upgrades. Steve and Nat had been told Bucky would return and show them a few things before they headed out to the front line.

Bucky soon entered, carrying a large case. He sat it down on the table immediately in front of Nat, and spun it so it would open toward her.

“I owe you a gun,” he said.

Nat opened the case, and found three of her favorite handguns with matching holsters and what she would only guess were the enhanced Wakandan bullets Bucky was using.

She raised an eyebrow at him.

“You want back those bullets you gave me?” she asked with a smirk.

Bucky shifted his head with a wince, and his jaw tightened. But when he spoke his voice was soft. And her met her gaze.

“Does that deal come with a new pair of goggles?” he asked.

Nat grinned at him, as she picked a gun and began adjusting the straps of the holster.  
  
  


**ACT THREE: The Battle**

 

Bucky mercilessly assaulted the Outriders around him... relentlessly battering them down. They seem unending in number, and he began to wonder if T'Challa's army had any chance.

Out of the corner of his eye, between exchanged blows, he'd watched Nat acquire something and drag it onto an abandoned Wakandan transport ship.

As the Outriders slowly thinned around him, he relocated her long enough to see her maneuver the ship up into the air and take it speeding toward the largest of the invading vessels -- a towering spike dug into the earth.

He noticed how many Outrider carcasses near her takeoff point were missing the formidable power packs that ran their armor. And he realized her plan.

Bucky also realized her plan had no exit. She would have to ram herself and her explosives into the vessel at a dizzying height, with a horde of combatants directly below.

He threw back his nearest enemies, and tore away to find the nearest of the small, cycle-style hover ships the Wakandan scouts had been using. He soon found one, and sped away.

Nat was going fast, and picking up speed, but the small craft could accelerate just a bit faster than the transport ship, and he was soon dodging enemy fire off the right side of her ship. 

She caught his eye and smiled.

As they got closer and closer to the ship, Bucky heard a green-eyed laugh stretch across the years. A motorcycle engine revved in a time long gone, and a younger Nat was in his ear urging in him to go faster and faster. 

_ “We’re going plenty fast to catch them, Natalia.” _

_ “But not fast enough to be fun. What’s really important here, Soldier?” _

The old bike gained on a speeding RV, right as Nat’s ship dangerously approached the leading vessel of Thanos’ army.

And Bucky saw foggy glimpses of Nat leaping from his speeding bike onto the careening vehicle next to them - fifteen years ago - right as she quite vividly leapt from the doomed transport, throwing herself into his energy-absorbing vibranium arm. She landed one of her feet on the seat of his small vehicle.

They careened off to the side of the giant target and sped back toward their camp, as Nat settled in behind him with a quiet smile, and the Outrider ship blossomed into a fireball. 


End file.
